India in Sri Lanka : Between Lion and the Tigers/Avtar Singh Bhasin.
New Delhi, Manas, 2004, 353 p., $44. ISBN 81-7049-210-6.
India in Sri Lanka : Between Lion and the Tigers/Avtar Singh Bhasin.
New Delhi, Manas, 2004, 353 p., $44. ISBN 81-7049-210-6.
Contents: Preface. 1. Sri Lanka and India. 2. Sri Lankan national consciousness. 3. Widening Gulf. 4. Creeping separatism. 5. Rise of Tamil militancy. 6. Indian involvement in the ethnic conflict. 7. Anti-Tamil Riots of 1983. 8. India's mediatory role. 9. India's concern at escalating violence. 10. Rajiv Gandhi takes over. 11. Thimpu talks. 12. Towards confrontation. 13. Confrontation in Jaffna. 14. The crisis peaks. 15. Towards a peace agreement. 16. India and the peace agreement. 17. LTTE and the Indian peace keeping force. 18. Proposal for a treaty of peace and friendship. 19. LTTE's intransigence. 20. One year after the peace agreement. 21. Presidency of the Ranasinghe Premadasa. 22. Deinduction of the Indian peace keeping force. 23. The North-East provincial council. 24. Assassinations and the second peace process. 25. Extradition of Prabakaran. 26. Devolution package. 27. Epilogue. 28. Postscript-2004. Index.
"Sri Lanka has been in turmoil ever since her independence. The Tamils, whether of Indian origin or ethnic, had been at the centre of this turmoil. While the question of citizenship for the Tamils of Indian origin was resolved after some hiccups, the problem of ethnic Tamils continues to be intractable. Their rich cultural heritage and a long history of independent existence on the same island came in conflict with the Sinhala pride. In this raging conflict India in the pursuit of her domestic politics and strategic interests got sucked in the ethnic quagmire. Torn between commitment to Sri Lanka's territorial integrity and sovereignty and Tamil aspirations, New Delhi found that the peace agreement of 1987 promoted by her became a millstone round her neck. The developments leading to the induction of Indian armed forces found India arraigned against the very people, she had sought to protect. In the end, Indian intervention proved self-defeating.
Since then India and Sri Lanka have come a long way. By deft handling of economic, cultural and diplomatic instruments India has succeeded in making a come back in Colombo. Both the Tamils and the Sinhalese who once conspired for her exit, are now beseeching her good offices. Colombo convinced that issues affecting minorities cannot be solved by the use of force, is now more than willing to meet their legitimate aspirations. Unfortunately the LTTE has yet to convince itself that it too needs to walk a little distance to achieve the elusive peace.
The present book unlocks inside and outside development of relations between India and Sri Lanka, the majoritarian politics of the Sinhalas, denial of the Tamil minority its cultural, political and economic rights, Indian intervention and the present situation, which have never been described in such details." (jacket)